Health Information Specialist

Becoming a Health Information Specialist (HIS) requires you to become credentialed as a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). St. Kate’s HIS program will prepare you for this certification. Upon graduation, you will earn an Associate of Applied Science degree.

St. Kate’s HIS program will teach you to use computerized systems and become competent in five roles: information manager, coding specialist, quality assurance specialist, supervisory manager and registry specialist.

When you graduate, you will be eligible to take the National Certification Exam of the American Health Information Management Association. Upon successful completion of the exam, you will be credentialed and ready to practice as a registered health information technician (RHIT).

Accreditation

Course schedule

You can complete the associate degree at St. Kate’s in a two- or three-year program. Health Information Specialist courses are offered in the late afternoon and evenings. The three-year option requires students to register as pre-professional students and take the majority of their liberal arts and sciences courses in the first year.

Required courses

Medical Terminology for Health Information Professionals

Information Technology

Health Record as Information Tool

Health Document Content and Structure

Pharmacology and Clinical Lab

CPT Coding

ICD Coding

Healthcare Statistics and Quality Assurance

Professional Practice Application

Advanced Coding

Organization and Supervision

Capstone: Topics and Professional Practice Application of Health Record Management

Reimbursement Systems

Required supporting courses

Anatomy & Physiology I

Human Disease

Ethical Problems in Healthcare

Additional liberal arts and science and CIL requirements

Transcultural Learning through Community Connections

Human Ecology

Composition I

General Psychology

Power and Social Change

ART elective

ENGL literature elective

SSCS elective

THEO elective

Elective

NOTE: This curriculum is very tightly prescribed. Failure to follow the curriculum guide may result in class schedule conflicts. It also might result in the need to enroll in additional credits or a delay in graduation. Before registering for any given semester, you should consult with the program curriculum guide, available online and through the Registrar’s Office.